New to site & need support

Gosh. You have a lot going on. It worries me that you live alone. Are there any options? Have you looked into care facilities or some home assistance? Any family?

❤️

I have alzheimers an am on doneprozal for cognitive stability and it has helped greatly but most of all it is the staff of the memory clinic that has done my full assessment and sent me in the right direction. memory clinics have many highly trained staff to cover all the angles..

GabbyB
I'm an Engineer by training, diagnosed with MCI last year. I'm taking Leqembi to slow down the progression. I'm married and have a supportive family structure, so I can't directly relate to your situation. But I do have some suggestions.

In my previous line of work, I helped perform analytical assessments of complex engineering systems. We sometimes noted we would get stuck in what we would refer to as "Analysis Paralysis". We could always find issues and concerns with weak points in our analytical model, and spend countless hours trying to gather data and develop algorithms to improve our model to better predict reality. Over the years, we learned that at some point, we had to declare "pencils down", time to make a decision and execute, rather than continually debating and analyzing alternatives.

Perhaps something similar may apply to your situation.

My Mom also had dementia. After my Dad died, she lived alone in her home. She had no desire to move, given her decades in the house, with all the memories and the familiarity of it all. But eventually, we convinced her to move into an assisted living apartment. We visited several establishments, and she helped picked out the place. At that point in time, my Mom didn't really need any "assistance" for daily living. I believe she did much better at the assisted living facility than she did at home. The meal times were a big social event, instead of eating alone at her home. I would sometimes join my Mom for lunch at her table with several other residents. The conversations were always robust and interesting. My Mom also enjoyed the activities they had, such as a big annual Christmas party with a large buffet of various foods, musical presentations by local school choirs, various opportunities for crafts. The facility was within easy walking distance of an ice cream store, and in my regular visits with my Mom, we would go and get some ice cream. Then Covid hit, and later my Mom fell and broke her hip, such that she couldn't return to the assisted living facility. Her mental decline also increased, and we had to admit her to a memory care unit.

Back to your situation, perhaps you could try asking at the "independent senior apartment building near downtown" if they have programs which you could attend to get a feel for what it might be like to live in that community. In my area, across the street from the church I attend there is an independent senior apartment building. Our church has conducted many joint programs with the owners of the building, and we have become familiar with how they operate. They have staff members who help organize social events for the residents, trying to help ensure nobody is socially isolated. Or perhaps it is more accurate to say that any who are socially isolated are in that situation because they chose not to participate in any of the social activities. I am generally an introvert, so in this situation, I would need to force myself to get out of my apartment and go to the social activities in an attempt to maintain some sanity.

As far as getting rid of many cherished items, my wife and I have been doing that as we downsize from our 3-bedroom home to a smaller condo we purchased in a building in another city where my wife's sister also owns a unit. It isn't easy, as many items have specific memories. We also have many printed genealogical records, some which my wife inherited from her Dad, and many which I've accumulated over the decades from my side of the family. I've been trying to migrate some of this material to a website, such that the historical information may live on after I am long gone.

I hope something in this lengthy post may help.